Travel
Information Bulletin
JULY
- AUGUST 2003
The
following is taken from
FORBES
July
18, 2003 issue and written by
Vanessa
Gisquet:
"NEW
YORK - Being stuck in traffic, shoving your way into the subway, leaving
an hour early and still being late--let's face it: America's
way to work is often mind numbing and time consuming. By 2006, an
estimated 50 million employees--one-third of the U.S. workforce--will
forgo their daily ordeal by becoming telecommuters, but what about the
rest of us? The future for commuters may be slightly less grim than we
think.
A
two-year-old initiative from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and
the Department of Transportation has helped 2,000 employers de-stress the
daily commute. The businesses--70 to 80 of which are top-ranking public
companies--are using everything from mass-transit subsidies to carpooling
incentives and staggered work schedules to keep employees focused on their
work instead of their speedometers. To date, even in the face of cutbacks
across the board, no employer registered with the Best Workplace for
Commuters Program has opted to cut out its commuter benefits, the EPA
says.
To
qualify as a Best Workplace for Commuters employer, a company must sign a
voluntary agreement or enroll online with the EPA and the DOT, thereby
committing itself to offering various benefits for commuters. The primary
benefit is either a monthly transit or vanpool pass subsidy of at least
$30 per employee or a parking cash-out equivalent to at least 75% of the
employee's total parking costs. Companies whose headquarters have been
recognized as a "Best Workplace" include
Costco, Hewlett-Packard
and Apple Computer."
Westchester
County government is among this elite group of employers, thanks to the
leadership of County Executive Andy Spano and the support of many county
departments including Transportation, Economic Development, Human
Resources and Information Technology.
The county government is ready to do more to encourage other
employers to join it in this effort.
The county’s SMART COMMUTE program will sponsor Transportation
Fair events this fall in many Westchester locations – White Plains, New
Rochelle, Mount Vernon, Yonkers, Peekskill and Valhalla.
County employees can learn more about commute options and
incentives at these events. Representatives from Metropool -- a not-for-profit company
that works with the county to offer mobility solutions and promote
vanpools – will be attending.
The
first of these events will be held at the Michaelian Office Building at
148 Martine Ave., White Plains from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Wednesday,
September 17, 2003. This
event will be open to all state, county and city employees with office
locations in White Plains. Several
door prizes will be given away.
Future
events will be scheduled at other locations.
For more information about these events or other commute-related
issues, please call
Westchester’s SMART COMMUTE Program at (914) 995-4444.
or e-mail us at tvo1@westchestergov.com
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